May 9, 2012

Level Up and E-Games: Merged to Expand Market

Two of the Philippines' leading online game companies - Level Up! Inc. (LUI) and IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (E-Games), have formally merged their respective online gaming businesses on May 8, 2012. As the most dominant publisher in the Philippines - Playweb Games Inc. (PWG), the union of the two now establishes LUI's associated game publishing company, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the Philippine online games market with 41 million registered users and 3 million active users. The online game business of them is expected to double the distribution capacity after merging.

The merging of the online game businesses of LUI and E-Games is expected to double the distribution capacity for the already ubiquitous Level Up! pre-paid card. The wider reach and unparalleled availability of the Level Up! pre-paid card has prompted LUI to open up its doors to more payment gateway partners. Due to the low penetration rate of credit cards in the Philippines, pre-paid cards remain to be the preferred mode of payment for Filipino gamers.

"By joining forces with IP E- Games Ventures, Level Up! can now present a more comprehensive online gaming experience to players, which is always our top priority," said Ben Colayco, founder of Level Up! "This newly merged entity will push our online game business further into the global games market and cement Level Up! as the partner of choice, not only for publishing, but for payment channeling as well."

Hopefully along with the goal of expanding their market is their commitment to eliminating third party programs and providing quality customer service.